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Awarded Grants
Below is a listing of our awarded grants that tackle big food and agriculture challenges.

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27 Grants found

Genome Editing Wheat for Durable and Sustainable Disease Resistance

Accelerated Development of Crops of the Future

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research

Genetic and microbial determinants of nitrogen fixation in a Sierra Mixe landrace of maize

Exploring Plant-Microbiome-Environment Interactions Towards Tailoring Plant Disease Management

Metagenomic Probes for the Rapid Identification of the Microbiome Community in A Wheat Rhizospheremodel System

Improving the Nutritional Quality of Tomatoes

Crops in Silico 3.0

Crops of the Future: Corn Drought Resistance

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Research

Stopping A New Threat to The Lettuce Industry in Florida: Fusarium Wilt

Development of a Farmer-Focused Disease Prevention and Preparedness Tool

Developing CRISPR-Cpf1 Genome Editing Technologies for Crop Improvement

Crops of the Future Initial Project: Leafy Greens

Ecology and Evolution of Bacterial Leaf Streak of Maize

Harnessing Endophytes to Improve Crop Efficiency and Production

Protein-Based Thermotolerance Markers for Sustainable Legume Protein Production

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Research

A Novel Bioassay for Culturing and Characterizing Fastidious Phytopathogens

Crops in Silico 1.0

Developing Massively Parallel Sequence for Agricultural Surveillance

Mitigation of Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus in Kansas and U.S. High Plains

Plant-Nanoparticle Hybrids: Optimize Crop Engineering and Nutrient Delivery

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Research

Renewal: RIPE: Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency for Sustainable Increases in Crop Yield

A Multi-Scale Approach to Unearth the Root of Plant Disease Resistance

Enhancing Crop Pollination, Pest Control and Yield in Urban Agriculture

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Genome Editing Wheat for Durable and Sustainable Disease Resistance

FFAR award amount   $900,000

Year Awarded   2020

Total award amount   $3,272,723

Location   Berkeley, CA

Matching Funders   2Blades Foundation, Innovative Genomics Institute

Program   Seeding Solutions

There are millions of Americans who do not know where their next meal comes from. To combat food insecurity, Feeding America is evaluating the effect of the Regional Produce Cooperative, a model that provides a greater variety of produce to food banks at a lower cost, on the charitable food system.

Accelerated Development of Crops of the Future

FFAR award amount   $748,549

Year Awarded   2020

Total award amount   $1,497,098

Location   Ames, IA

Matching Funders   Iowa State University, KWS SAAT SE & Co, Beck’s Superior Hybrids, BASF, SAATEN-UNION BIOTEC and RAGT

Program   Seeding Solutions

On average, it takes farmers ten years to produce a new crop. With an increasing global population, there is high demand for more crops sooner. Iowa State University researchers are developing breeding methods that accelerate plant breeding for multiple crop species. These breeding techniques deliver improved crop varieties – with greater yields – into the hands of farmers sooner.

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research

Year Awarded   2020

Total award amount   $100

Location   Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Delbruck Building, 1 Bungtown Road

Matching Funders   Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Dr. Zachary Lippman was awarded the 2020 National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture for his work to increase crop productivity in the face of declining agricultural land and population growth through novel gene editing techniques.

Genetic and microbial determinants of nitrogen fixation in a Sierra Mixe landrace of maize

FFAR award amount   $927,581

Year Awarded   2019

Total award amount   $1,855,162

Location   Davis, California 95616

Matching Funders   Benson Hill

Program   Seeding Solutions

Plants need nitrogen to grow. Although the majority of earth’s atmosphere is made up of nitrogen, plants cannot access this form of nitrogen. We awarded a grant to the University of California, Davis to study a Mexican corn variety, Sierra Mixe, that obtains atmospheric nitrogen with the help of microbes, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers.

Exploring Plant-Microbiome-Environment Interactions Towards Tailoring Plant Disease Management

FFAR award amount   $290,894

Year Awarded   2019

Total award amount   $581,993

Location   Auburn, AL

Matching Funders   Auburn University, Swiss National Science Foundation, University of Georgia, California State Beekeepers’ Association

Traditional disease management often fail to prevent recurring outbreaks, which result in devasted crops. Auburn University research team is testing a two-pronged approach to transform disease management strategies and identify control approaches that are practical and profitable.

Metagenomic Probes for the Rapid Identification of the Microbiome Community in A Wheat Rhizospheremodel System

FFAR award amount   $120,000

Year Awarded   2019

Total award amount   $240,000

Location   Stillwater, OK

Matching Funders   Oklahoma State University

Plant pathogens can harm plants, reduce water quality and cause soil erosion. Oklahoma State University researchers are using high-throughput sequencing to determine what affects plant health.

Improving the Nutritional Quality of Tomatoes

FFAR award amount   $299,042

Year Awarded   2019

Total award amount   $598,908

Location   Columbus, OH

Matching Funders   The Ohio State University

Diet is the leading cause of many chronic diseases. The Ohio State University research team is combining plant breeding/genetics, analytical chemistry, bioinformatics and nutrition to develop tomatoes that are more beneficial for human health.

Crops in Silico 3.0

FFAR award amount   $2,500,000

Year Awarded   2019

Total award amount   $5,000,000

Location   Urbana-Champaign, IL

Matching Funders   The Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment at the University of Illinois, NCSA

University of Illinois researchers are developing a suite of virtual plant models that examine the effects of environmental challenges on a molecular, cellular and organ level within a plant to accurately determine the best targets for genetic engineering. This second grant allows researchers to continue building a computational platform that integrates multiple models to study a whole plant virtually.

Crops of the Future: Corn Drought Resistance

FFAR award amount   $900,000

Year Awarded   2019

Total award amount   $1,800,000

Location   Madison, WI

Matching Funders   Inari, KWS, Syngenta

Drought is a primary limitation to crop production that impacts future food security. Researchers at the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System are enhancing genetic characterization and prediction of drought response in maize.

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Research

Year Awarded   2019

Total award amount   $100,000

Location   Washington, DC

Matching Funders   Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Dr. Elizabeth Ainsworth, a U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service researcher and adjunct professor at the School of Integrative Biology at the University of Illinois, is the 2019 recipient of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences. Ainsworth’s pioneering research focuses on how the world will eat in the face of climate change and other threats.  

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